Trinity Hall, a private all-girls high school, wants to build a new campus on 37 acres off Chapel Hill Road in Middletown.Rob Spahr/NJ.com

MIDDLETOWN – The township's Planning Board took no action during its meeting Wednesday night controversial proposal to build an all-girls high school in a residential neighborhood in the township .

Trinity Hall, a private all-girls high school that has been operating out of a temporary location on Leonardville Road since opening in September, is proposing to build a campus complete with three buildings, athletic fields, tennis courts and approximately 330 parking spaces on a 64-acre parcel off Chapel Hill Road.

Proponents of the school, dressed in its signature orange colors, were outnumbered at the meeting almost two-to-one by concerned neighbors opposing the plan, who had screen-printed shirts with anti-school slogans and pins showing a crossed-out image of the school.

Almost all of the five-hour Planning Board meeting was devoted to the cross examination of expert witnesses by the public and attorneys representing the school and its opposition.

Residents complained that the proposed school would add traffic, noise and nuisance to a residential neighborhood while potentially lowering property values.

Tony Pallito was concerned that additional traffic on Chapel Hill Road presented a safety risk, and disputed a report by project traffic engineer Mark Kataryniak that found “minimal” accidents on the corridor.

“We’ve had 137 accidents in three years,” Pallito said. “It is a very dangerous road. Your traffic study is great, but it is not accurate. It is dangerous, it is dangerous to this development to put 500 to 700 more people on it.”

Kataryniak tried to assure residents that the school, which school administrators say would have no more than 500 students at any time, would have minor impact on traffic in the surrounding area, but road and intersection improvements were included as part of the site plan to accommodate cars entering the school driveway.

The neighborhood along Chapel Hill Road is primarily large single-family homes boasting seven-digit property values. Parts of the area are deemed a historic district, but the school does not lie in that zone.

Jim Mulvaney, a township resident, said a proposal to widen Chapel Hill Road to include turn lanes into the school and at its intersection with Kings Highway to accommodate the school was at odds with its scenic designation.

“Chapel Hill Road has been designated as a scenic road from Kings Highway to Sleepy Hollow,” Mulvaney said. “How do you propose to argue to this board that you should be allowed to expand this road to 48 feet wide and put all the striping that is necessary for safety and still be consistent with the designation of a scenic road?”

Noise from the school’s HVAC system and other activities prompted Mai Cleary, who lives on Chapel Hill Road, to start thinking about leaving the area.

“We have an autistic son and we probably live 150 feet away, very close,” Cleary said. “Sound is a huge issue for him. I am very concerned about the noise and the activity for him, we may have to move.”

Residents also expressed concern that additional traffic on the road, which lacks sidewalks, would pose a risk to pedestrians.

Township resident Gene Sisso worried that the development might make the nearby intersection of Kings Highway and Sleepy Hollow Road even more confusing.

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“It is very confusing, even for people who live there,” Sisso said. “If you are proposing an increase in the volume of traffic, wouldn’t you agree that it would contribute to more problems at that intersection?”

The proposed campus would take up slightly less than 38 of those acres, therefore the applicant is requesting permission to subdivide the property. However, representatives for the applicant have claimed that there are no plans “at this time” to develop the remaining 26 acres.

The Planning Board will continue its review of the project on May 26. Planning Board Chairman John Deus said the board plans to have a final decision by July.